Welcome to the Family History Social

 

The Society of Genealogists is presenting a course aimed at taking your research back into the 1600s. Away from the pressures of life for a weekend, you can focus on how to find your earlier ancestors and flesh out your family’s history. If you sign up for this online course you will spend time with other people in the class that share your interests and are as keen as you are to learn new skills. Most of us enjoy meeting and learning from expert genealogists and we find others’ ancestry almost as fascinating as our own.

The SoG 2-day intensive course covers:

 

The Commonwealth Gap

Civil Wars

Migration to the Americas

Parish Registers and Records

Heraldic Visitations

Grammar Schools and Universities

London Guilds and Livery Companies

Taxation

Old Poor Law

Sources for English Civil War soldiers

Court records and Quarter Sessions

Nonconformity

17th Century Probate

 

Using case studies, document workshops and small group discussions alongside lectures you will learn about England in the 17th Century the sources available to research your ancestors in this period, and what their life would have been like. 

 

On Saturday afternoon guest speaker Tim Healey presents "Sex, Drink and Death in the 17th Century" a romp through the pleasures and perils of life in this turbulent era, featuring bawdy frolics, alehouse revels, highway robberies, Civil War, fire and plague. Hugely entertaining, the talk also gives insight into evolving customs - of courtship, celebration, faith and burial. 

 

Time: 

From 10:30am to 5 pm on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September on Zoom. 

 

Students will then have access to the recording of each talk for two weeks. 

 

Bookings are open until 9am 16 September 2023. 

https://members.sog.org.uk/events/6406270ba8ecf00007e50953/description?ticket=6406270ba8ecf00007e50955

 

Press Release: Pharos Tutors under new ownership

Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd has been purchased by Dr Karen Cummings DipGen, with the change in ownership effective immediately.

Helen Osborn, co-founder and owner of the business since its inception in 2005, has sold the business to allow her to focus on other interests.

Karen Cummings, who has been the Course Director for Pharos since October last year, is an established genealogist, tutor and speaker. She is one of our longstanding tutors and has taught and written a number of Pharos courses over the last 6 years. Students who have been on Karen’s courses will testify to her enthusiasm about Pharos courses and the subjects she teaches.

Helen says “Pharos has been a large part of my life for 15 years and it now needs new vision and fresh enthusiasm to take it forwards. Karen shares my love of imparting the best genealogy tutoring and inspiration to all genealogists no matter where they are in their educational journey. She brings many skills to Pharos so I am really thrilled that she is stepping into my place. I know the company will not only be in safe hands, but will build on current successes and go from strength to strength.”

Karen says “When Helen told me she was thinking of selling Pharos I jumped at the opportunity to buy the company. I’ve been a student, a tutor and then the Course Director for Pharos and, as we were moving things forward, I was constantly reminded of that 1980s marketing campaign “I liked it so much I bought the company”. We have the most amazing group of Tutors here at Pharos, I am in exceptionally good company. Like the other tutors, I am passionate about delivering high quality courses to students, providing them with tools to become better genealogists, and giving them the opportunity to ask questions along the way. We have over forty different courses currently running and more in development, and I am very excited about taking Pharos forward into the future”.

The Society of Genealogists have now announced their programme of events for next year.  It promises to be a busy year with a number of lectures, talks and other events planned. The events cover  a wide range of subjects of interest to most family historians. There is also a strong military theme to coincide with the anniversary of the start of the First World War happening next year. If you'd like to improve your family history knowledge or keep up to date with latest developments, there's full details on The Society of Genealogists website.  

The latest range of courses have been announced by the Society of Genealogists. There is a good range of courses available for both the amateur and experienced family historian. A selection of the courses include: Wed 2 Oct 14:00 Tracing French Ancestry Sat 5 Oct 14:00-17:00 Heraldry: Its Language, Grants and Inheritance of Arms Wed 9 Oct 14:00 Charities and their Records at The National Archives for Family Historians Sat 12 Oct 10:30-17:00 Family Historian Software for Beginners and Refreshers Wed 16 Oct 14:00 My Ancestor Was a Hatmaker Sat 19 Oct 10:30-13:00 Marriage and Courtship in the 1800's The full course itinerary can be found at http://www.sog.org.uk/books-courses/events-courses/ If you would like more information, please contact the events department at the Society of Genealogists on 020 7553 3290 or by email: events@sog.org.uk  

Reading through the latest issue of the monthly journal from the Society of Genealogists, there's a few interesting courses and lectures scheduled in over the next couple of weeks. On the 22 June, Simon Fowler gives a talk on 'Making the Best Use of The National Archives Website' and on the 29th June, AlecTritton talks about 'Nonconformist Ancestors - including 19th Century Sects'. More details on both these talks and other events can be found on the Society of Genealogists website.